How to be a cat breeder


Many cat lovers would like to make their passion a way of life, but they do not know how to be a breeder of purebred cats. At Petlifey, we give you the best advice and how you should do it if you are interested in dedicating yourself to the responsible reproduction of purebred cats.


How to be a cat breeder

Before you commit to breeding purebred cats, think carefully if you will be able to dedicate the necessary time to it. The cat flap must always be clean. It also takes time to feed cats , especially if you prepare special diets for them.

An extra bedroom, enclosed porch, or sitting room can easily be turned into a cat flap. Raising kittens also requires spending certain amounts of money. Animals must be fed of superior quality to keep them in optimum condition.

Regular vet visits with multiple cats are not cheap, even if you get special prices. To start a breeding program, you will have to buy the best animals you can get.

This expense is not so great if it is considered that it can be amortized over the life of the cat , but even so the initial cost is important because it must be paid up front. Here are some of the tangible items to consider when deciding whether or not to pursue cat breeding .

A much more subtle question needs to be answered before committing to a breeding program: Do you know enough about grades and types to produce what you really want?

As a beginning breeder you will learn to develop your powers of comparison and observation. Experience can be your best teacher. Go to cat shows. Compare the cats you see with the ideal you have in mind.

If you already have a cat that you want to mate, look for a partner that is strong where yours is weakest. After a while, you will prefer certain animals to others.

When you determine good reasons for these preferences, reasons shared with experienced breeders and hobbyists, you are well on your way to becoming a good breeder .


When to breed purebred cats

A cat can reach sexual maturity before he is one year old. As a general rule, a female should not be allowed to mate before this age. If a female cat has had several jealousies before she is one year old, and if she plans to reproduce her before sterilizing her, you will have to consult your veterinarian.

He may suggest you mate her at that early age due to the possibility that she could develop cysts on her ovaries otherwise.

A mother who is too young may have problems with her first litter. She may spend little time with her kittens due to inexperience, and she may not be mature enough to be a good mother.

As she is still developing herself, the nutrients in her food will be used to meet her own organic needs and not to produce quality milk in sufficient quantity for the kittens.

A female over a year old can make an excellent mother. It is strong and vibrant and can raise sa-us kittens. Parturition will be easier than in the case of an overly old female, because the bones and cartilage of her pelvis will still be elastic and able to dilate during the delivery of the cat . If she is well fed, she will be able to support her young.

Most breeders recommend that the female in heat mate around the third day of estrus, because this seems to be the ideal time for conception. Also, the female tends to be less excitable on that day than on the first and second days.

A male is usually in a position to mate with a female from nine months of age . Some males mature earlier and others later.

Cat owners associations do not register kittens whose father is too young, so check the regulations of the organization with which you want to register your kittens first.

You can test a young male who is interested in mating, but make sure the female is not difficult. An unpleasant experience in his first mating can leave the young male chastened for future matings.

When the male is more than one year old it is usually possible to mate him without difficulties. Although a mature male is always willing to mate and does not go into heat as females do, he should only mate when he is in optimal conditions.


Cat breeding methods

There are various methods used in raising cats. Let’s see in detail the most used:

Inbreeding reproduction

The I inbred-line reproduction reduces raising its simplest form and certain results can be predicted and achieved fairly accurately. This method concentrates and intensifies the defects present in the line, without adding additional defects to the young.

However, the reverse is also true, and many breeders resort to inbreeding to reinforce qualities of their animals before mating them with strange animals.

When a defect or a quality has been established in a line it is very difficult to eliminate it; therefore, this reproductive method must be used very carefully to obtain the best results.

Inbreeding involves mating between father and daughter, mother and son, and brother and sister. Siblings are the most genetically similar members of a family, and they are usually paired when both are of high quality.

Obviously it is necessary to resort to this type of reproduction when establishing a new line, since this is the only way to establish a type at the beginning, when there are few representatives of a new breed or variety.

There is a variety of consanguineous rearing in which the best son or daughter of a first-born litter is mated with either his mother or his father, respectively. Afterwards, the best son or daughter of this litter mates with his mother or father, respectively. This is repeated until the desired results are achieved.

An accident of the male or female can destroy a new line. For this reason inbred rearing is often used as a preventive step when a line has not yet been well established.

Online parenting

Line breeding is the crossing of two members of the same family who do not have a relationship too direct, as with granddaughter grandfather or uncle. It is considered as a less radical form of upbringing than consanguineous upbringing.

Non-consanguineous reproduction

The outbred reproduction is based on mating cats that have no common ancestors in five ge-neraciones . This reproductive method is used when a breeder tries to fix desirable qualities in his animals from another line.

When a breeder achieves a good level of quality from a certain cross, he usually repeats that mating. This strengthens both lines (if both breeders use the offspring in their reproductive programs) and the breed improves.

Non-consanguineous reproduction only adds qualities, whether they are positive or negative, but does not change those existing in the line.

Compensated reproduction

Compensated reproduction is the mating system in which an animal that lacks a certain quality is crossed with another specimen in which that quality is strong . Among the offspring obtained there should be some specimens in which the desired improvement has been achieved.


The breeding procedure

When the female enters a heat period, her owner will notify the male’s owner. Usually the female is sent to the male. While staying with him, she usually mates several times and frequently spends several days with the cat.

It is possible that the owner of the female will accompany her. The owner of the male may prefer that the owner of the female stay away during the mating itself, but stay within reach.

Some breeders have a special enclosure for paired-ments. This enclosure is kept scrupulously clean, quiet, and has enough space for both animals to socialize, mate, and separate at their comfort level.

Sometimes these enclosures are outdoors, but the same care and facilities are provided as in the case of an indoor enclosure.

Before bringing them together in the mating area, the male and female are usually placed in adjacent enclosures so that they can get used to each other and their respective scents, so that they are more relaxed at the time of putting them together.

The act of mating only lasts a minute or two, but when you put them together for the first time, the animals may play or even sleep together.

Many times they will not mate until humans are present to observe them or until after dark. They will have to be left together for a day or two, after which the female can return home.


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